Let's Talk About Love
by jadedcutie494
Summary: Ok, just another oneshot about Tristan and Rory. Season 3, Tristan's back and he gives Rory a lift home when she get stuck in the rain.


Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, but Chad... I don't unfortunately.

A/N: I'm SO sorry for the oneshots, but I can't help it. I started this one ages ago and just found it again, so I thought I'd finish it. I am working on my other stories. Anyway, I'll stop rambling and let you read... let me know what you think.

**Let's Talk About Love**

Rory sat watching the minutes tick by as her teacher kept talking about the dismal results of their last pop quiz. The bell signalling the end of the day had rung at least 5 minutes earlier, but the woman showed no sign of having heard it. The class was growing restless, and Rory's eyes wandered, settling briefly on Tristan who was sitting in the back, doodling in his book. She sighed and turned back to the front where her teacher was finally wrapping up her speech.

By the time Rory had gone to her locker and made it to the bus stop, she'd missed the bus by at least 5 minutes. She briefly considered calling her mum to come pick her up but decided against it, instead sitting down and pulling out her books.

10 minutes later she felt the first drops of rain land on her arms, and she scrambled to get her books back in her bag, and was quickly getting soaked when a car pulled up next to her, window down.

'Hop in Rory.' The voice startled her, but after a split second debate she jumped into the safety of the warm, dry car.

'Sorry, I think I got your seat all wet,' she said as she pulled her backpack onto h er lap.

'It's fine, my seat can't get sick, you, however, can.' She avoided eye contact and tried to ignore the concern she heard in his voice. It had been weird since he'd returned to the school at the start of their senior year. He didn't hang out with any of his old friends, in fact; she wasn't really sure _who_ he hung out with any more. He didn't seem to do much, except sit in the back of the class room, silently passing time. The silence grew, so she decided to lighten the mood.

'Oh, we Gilmores never get sick,' she stated matter-of-factly, and she heard his soft chuckle. She finally turned to him, and his smiling blue eyes met her own, and she returned his smile.

'Oh, really?' He questioned, eye brow raised.

'Yep, it's a well known fact. Ask Lorelai, she'll tell you.' He looked confused.

'You call your mum Lorelai?'

'No, my great grandmother, Lorelai the first.'

'There are three of you?' He asked, looking scared, and she laughed.

'Yep. Although we don't _really_ count Great-Gran, cause she's not really all that similar to me and my mum, but still, she was the first, we can't forget that.'

'No, of course not.' He agreed, laughing with her. 'So, do you want to go home?' He asked, and she looked at him.

'You don't have to...'

'Rory, I'm not about to let you get back out into the rain and wait around for a bus, that with this weather, could be ages. I'll take you home.' He didn't give her much time to protest as he put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

'So, what were you still doing at school?' She asked after a minute of silence.

'Had to talk to Ms Jacobs about the pop quiz.'

'Why? I mean, you don't have to answer, if you don't want to...'

'It's fine Rory, calm down. She just wanted to ask me if I'd copied the answers off someone, and I politely reminded her that I sit in the back corner, surrounded by some of the world's stupidest people, so who could I possibly have cheated off.' He shrugged and grinned at her.

'It's true, they are pretty dumb. But why'd she assume you'd cheated?'

'Cause I not only passed, I did really well, and considering before I left I was close to failing, she made the assumption I must be cheating. She clearly never took a look at my transcripts from Military School.'

'So Military School did you good, huh?'

'Yeah, I guess you could say that,' he agreed with a grin. They fell back into a silence, this one more comfortable than the last. Rory reached forward and started fiddling with the radio, stopping when she heard the opening bars of a song she liked. She heard Tristan groan, and turned to look at him.

'You don't like Taylor Swift?' She asked, laughing at the look on his face.

'Well, she's not really my type of singer, but this song...'

'What wrong with it?'

'My cousin was obsessed with it over the summer when I was staying with her family, I heard it over and over, every day.'

'Aww, poor Tristan.' She smiled at him sympathetically, then reached over and turned the volume up, grinning at his groan.

_She said, I was seven and you were nine_

_I looked at you like the stars that shine_

_In the sky, the pretty lights_

_And our daddies used to talk about the two of us_

_Growin' up and fallin' in love_

_And our mammas smiled, and rolled their eyes_

_And said, Oh, my, my, my_

Rory sang along softly to the song, watching the rain fall on her window as they drove along the winding road.

_Take me back to the house and the backyard tree_

_Said you'd beat me up you were bigger than me_

_You never did, you never did_

_Take me back when our world was one block wide_

_I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried_

_Oh, my, my, my_

Tristan glanced over at Rory, watched her lips moving along with the song as she rested her head against the cool glass, before turning his eyes back to the road ahead of him.

_Well I was sixteen when suddenly _

_I wasn't that little girl you used to see_

_But your eyes still shined, like pretty lights_

_And our daddies used to joke about the two of us_

_They never believed we'd really fall in love_

_And our mammas smiled, and rolled their eyes_

_And said Oh, my, my, my_

_Take me back to the creek beds we turned up_

_2 AM ridin' in your truck_

_And all I need, is you next to me_

_Take me back to the time we had our very first fight_

_Slammin' of doors, 'stead of kissin' goodnight_

_You stayed outside, till morning light_

_Oh, my, my, my_

Rory glanced over at Tristan, smiled when she saw his fingers lightly tapping the top of his steering wheel, most likely subconsciously, but it was still funny to watch.

_A few years have gone and come around,_

_We were sittin' at our favourite spot in town_

_You looked at me, got down on one knee_

_Take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle_

_Our whole town came and our mammas cried_

_You said I do, and I did too_

_Take me home where we met so many years before_

_We'll rock our babies on the very same porch_

_After all this time, you and I_

Tristan felt her eyes on him, and turned to meet her gaze, holding it as the last lines started.

_And I'll be eighty-seven you'll be eighty-nine_

_I'll still look at you like the stars at shine, in the sky_

_Oh, my, my, my_

The song faded out, and Rory reached forward to turn the volume down. When she glanced over at Tristan, he was watching her curiously.

'What?' She asked, feeling slightly self-conscious, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

'Why do like the song so much?' He asked, turning back to watch the road in front of him.

'I dunno, I mean, it's sort of catchy, but it's more than that. It's really sweet, you know, the idea behind it. Two kids, meeting when they're really young, growing up together, falling in love, getting married. It sounds kinda nice, you know.' She shrugged, embarrassed.

'So...'

'So...?' Rory asked, imitating him, a smirk on her face not all that dissimilar to the one he used to wear.

'What, you missed my smirk so much you had to start using it yourself?' He asked, and she laughed, shaking her head.

'Don't flatter yourself. I just thought the occasion called for it, and since I haven't seen you smirk since you returned to Chilton I thought I'd remind you of it.'

'You've noticed me, Mary? What would the Beave say?' He asked, in truth not really wanting to hear her gush about her boyfriend, or defend him against his nickname for Dean.

'He's not my boyfriend anymore.' She said simply, looking at the road ahead.

'Why not?'

'Didn't want to be.'

'Idiot.' He muttered, and Rory couldn't help but laugh at their conversation, and the similarity he held to the one they had shared on the piano bench, over a year ago. He looked over at her, and couldn't help but return the smile she gave him.

'And I still maintain what I said that night; so's Summer.'

'Yeah, well, it was their loss, right? Then and now.' He added, grinning at her before turning back to the road. 'So, you like the idea of finding your soul mate when you're a kid, growing up together, growing old together?'

'Well, not necessarily as a kid, but the idea of finding the one you're meant to be with, without a doubt, and growing old with them? Yeah, who wouldn't like the idea of that?' She asked, and he shrugged.

'Got me.'

'So, given the lack of snide remarks you've made since your great return, I can only assume your increase in studying isn't the only thing military school helped?'

'You assume correctly. And for the record, I'm sorry for all those, how did you put it, snide remarks?' She smiled, nodding the affirmative. 'Well, I'm sorry, I know it might not seem like it, but I did have, well, the reasons behind them weren't bad.'

'Well then, you're forgiven. And so if your reasons weren't to simply torture me...?'

'Ah... see, I knew it.'

'Knew what?' She asked, confused.

'I knew my innocent Mary was still buried in their somewhere, waiting to make her return.'

'_Your_ innocent Mary?' She asked, smirk back in place.

'Slip of the tongue?' He asked with an impish smile. She raised an eyebrow, but let it slide. 'So, these reasons?' He sighed, as he turned off the highway and took the exit to Stars Hollow.

'Do you remember primary school, when boys would get a girls attention by pulling her hair, or something equally as stupid?'

'Yeah, the worst tactics in the world, I might add. How's a girl supposed to know you like her if all you do all day is pull her hair or make fun of her...oh' She stopped suddenly, looking over at him. He was looking resolutely out the window. 'Tristan...?' He glanced at her. 'You were using primary school tactics?' He lifted a shoulder before turning to her and nodding once. 'Oh.' They sat in silence for a few minutes before he came to a stop outside Ms Patty's.

'Rory?' She came out of her thoughts and looked at him.

'What?'

'We're here.' He answered, looking out the window at her town. The rain had subsided now and people were wandering around, a few casting curious looks at the very expensive car in their town.

'Oh. Um, Tristan...' She started, then stopped, turning to look out the window. After a minute, she turned back, determined to ask the question. 'Tristan, you teasing me, calling me Mary, all of that...'

'Was my, very stupid and childish, way of showing you I liked you.' He finished for her.

'But why?'

'What?'

'Why me?'

'You know, I don't call you Mary to insult you, it was meant as a compliment. Virgin Mary, she was the mother of a man who brought faith to so many people, she was good and pure. I guess you just, reminded me of her. Plus, you blush every time I say something _lewd_ to you.' She couldn't contain the blush that crept across her cheeks at his words. 'See, there it is.' He said with a smile.

'And there's that smile.'

'What smile?'

'The one that hardly ever gets to come out and play considering the smirk usually beats it to you face. I have to say, I prefer the smile.' She laughed as a smirk took the place of his smile. 'Thanks for the ride Tristan.'

'Hey Mary?' She turned back from opening her door.

'For the record, I wasn't hung up on Summer when I went out with Paris, and I _definitely_ didn't kiss you because of Summer. I just wanted to.' She made another quick decision and leant over to plant a quick kiss on his cheek.

'Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow.' She hopped out of the car, leaving a smiling Tristan behind.

'See you tomorrow, Mary.'


End file.
